This invention relates to the fields of computers and communication devices. More particularly, a graphical user interface, methods and apparatus are provided for navigating electronically stored information on a computing or communication device.
Traditional browsing methods generally involve repeatedly clicking on links (e.g., hyperlinks) to view different frames or pages of electronic content. Each time a link is selected, a different set of content is presented that usually completely replaces the previous set of content.
Thus, navigating to a selected page of content generally changes the user's entire context, in that he or she may now view only the new content and not previously selected content or other content that the user may have been able to select. Therefore, to find a specific page or item of content, the user may need to navigate through multiple links, and/or reverse one or more selections to take different paths, until the desired page or item is located.
Further, each selection of a link by a user of a computer system may involve actions such as moving his hand to a mouse or other pointing device, guiding a cursor controlled by the pointing device to the link, and clicking a mouse button. On a smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA) or other communication device, activating each link in a series of links may involve scrolling a page of content (to display the link) and tapping on the link with a finger or other tool.
Existing methods of navigation of electronic content may therefore require continuous three-dimensional spatial awareness on the part of a user, in that he must guide his hand, stylus or other instrument through three-dimensional space (i.e., the air) each time a new selection is to be made.
Consequently, navigating a hierarchical collection of electronic content via traditional browsing can involve multiple user actions, may be tedious (if a large number of links must be activated), and may be difficult if the user is multitasking (e.g., walking and browsing). If a wrong path link is selected, navigation may need to be restarted or traced backward in order to select the correct path.
A hierarchical collection of content may comprise content (e.g., text, video, images, applications, application data) that is organized into multiple levels and/or categories. As examples, a user's music collection may be divided by genre (e.g., rock, pop, country), artist, year of release and/or other criteria; contacts may be divided by name, category (e.g., friend, family, workmates) or how recently they were used; documents may be divided into an endless number and level of categories according to nature or purpose, age, creator, title, etc.
In short, the more action that must be taken to make a content selection with traditional browsing systems, methods and interfaces, the more action that must be repeated to navigate through a collection of content and the more likely it is that a wrong link or content item may be selected. In some environments, such as when a user is comfortably seated at a desktop computer system, such repetition may not be troublesome. But, for a user of a smartphone, tablet or other mobile communication or computing device, such repetition may be annoying and frustrating.